Maflingo: What have I got in my handbag?
Today I’m going to tell you what’s in my handbag!
Why am I telling you this? Here’s the thing…I’ was feeling a tad ‘Christmassed out’ with regards to my blog posts, so I decided to give myself a break. I looked down my list of blog ideas in my favourite Arc Customisable Notebook (you can read all about my perfect blogging journal HERE), and nothing seemed to inspire me.
For some reason, all the posts I have swirling around in my head at the moment are sentimental or poignant ones and I think I need to write something completely different. Especially as I’ve already made people cry with my posts about our daughters growing up (HERE) and the reasons for our Lego building Christmas tradition (HERE).
I thought about writing a funny post. Unfortunately, my sense of humour deserted me this morning when I overslept and woke up with my contact lenses stuck to my eyeballs!
Anyway, for all of the above reasons, I’ve decided you’re going to have to read about what’s in my handbag. If that doesn’t float your boat, turn back now while you have the chance! (Please don’t go!).
My slow-burn relationship with handbags.
Let me tell you about my relationship with handbags. For the first forty years of my life, I could count the number of handbags I owned on one hand. They were nothing special. They were brown or black and usually from Next. They were functional. As far as I was concerned, the sole reason for having a handbag was to carry your stuff from A to B. I apologise if this revelation has caused the fashionistas amongst you to cry. I didn’t mean for this post to be another tearjerker.
Why was I so apathetic towards handbags? I confess I’ve always been a Tomboy. I’ve only had my nails manicured professionally once. I’ve never had a spray tan. I’ve never had false eyelashes, a bikini wax or a pedicure. Get the picture? However, as my 40th birthday loomed, I was gripped by the insatiable desire to have a nice handbag! I have no idea why I had a sudden urge to loiter in the handbag section in TK Maxx rather than make a bee-line for the kitchenware and chocolates. It was so out of character. However, I knew ‘I’d got it bad’ when we made a family trip to the McArthurGlen outlet village in York to choose my 40th birthday pressies and a handbag was top of my list.
Three come along at once.
I deliberated over handbags at McArthur Glen for hours, going back and forward between the Radley shop and the Fossil shop, trying to choose the perfect birthday handbag. Mr T was highly amused by my sudden handbag obsession but I didn’t let it distract me from my quest. I was on a mission. I examined bag after bag, weighing up their various attributes and trying them all for size. What? This was an important decision!
I spent aaaaagggggeeesss trying to choose! In the end, possibly because my family were losing the will to live, Mr T, my mum and my sister each offered to buy me a bag! I went from my record of four bags in a lifetime to three bags in a day!!! Yes, three! I hasten to add they were all heavily discounted. I didn’t expect them to spend hundreds of pounds on birthday gifts. I chose a large brown Radley shoulder bag, a little green Fossil saddlebag and a medium green Fossil crossbody bag. I love them!
My love affair with bags is ongoing. I am now obsessed with handbags, (and coats…but that’s for another post. Kidding!).
Lord knows what sudden urges I’ll have when my 50th birthday comes around, (in many, many years time obvs). Perhaps I’ll be demanding my first spray tan or having my eyebrows threaded.
Anyway, today’s post will feature my small, but perfectly formed, green Fossil handbag.
What’s in my handbag?
Now, I must admit, having decided to write a blog post about the contents of my bag, I emptied it onto the table with some trepidation, worried I might find something embarrassing lurking inside.
It’s similar to how I’d feel if I learned Trinny and Susannah were going to feature me in ‘What not to wear.’ They’d have to guard my wardrobe and underwear drawer to stop me from trying to hids my most tragic clothing items or throw out my belly warmer knickers. On that point, why didn’t the people they featured in ‘What not to wear’ get rid of their worst fashion mistakes too? Instead, they left themselves wide open to ridicule and public humiliation at the hands of the sharp-tongued hosts. Or perhaps, they did get rid of the really ghastly items and these were the best of the bunch!
Thankfully, there wasn’t anything too embarrassing in my handbag, so here goes:
- Mobile phone. I have an iPhone 4s, which I bought secondhand from my local CeX store. I have no qualms about buying phones from CeX because they offer a 24-month warranty. Buying secondhand has saved me so much money over the years because I opt for cheap SIM only deals. I must buy a better phone case, though, as I’ve been making do with an ugly black plastic one from Poundland. That’s because I’ve fallen out of love with flip-cases after mine failed to protect my phone screen when I dropped it a few months ago.
- Mobile phone cable, charger, Apple 3-pin USB plug. For bloggers, these are must-have handbag items. I can’t get through a day without needing to recharge my phone. This must be because my phone battery needs replacing, not because I use it so much…Moving swiftly on!
- Business card holder containing my business cards. I bought a handy little business card holder from one of my favourite stores, Muji. We don’t have Muji in Nottingham anymore so when we visited London last month I got my ‘Muji fix’ and bought the card holder and some lovely notebooks to satisfy my stationery addiction. Now I’m a blogger, business cards are essential. I ordered some gorgeous curvy Maflingo business cards from Moo.com earlier this year, (HERE). I also have business cards for Cornerstone Money Advice, where I work as a voluntary debt advisor.
- Ludorati Loyalty Card. We have a fantastic new cafe in Nottingham. It’s a games cafe and one of our favourite places to go with the kids. You can choose to sit in the main cafe area and play classic games like chess, Scrabble, Uno, draughts etc for free. Alternatively, you can pay a fee per person to play one of over 700 different board games. Plus, the staff will help you choose a game and show you how to play it. We’ve learned how to play Carcassonne, Sushi Go and Settlers of Catan. It’s great because it means you have the chance to try before you buy. We’ve bought Sushi Go after playing it at Ludorati.
- My ID badge for Cornerstone Money Advice where I work as a voluntary debt adviser one day a week.
- Halls Extra Strong Cough Sweets. This is all my mum’s doing. She’s always telling me (an ex-pharmacist) I need to have these when I’ve got a cough. She’s
naggedtold me about the virtues of Halls Extra Strong so many times, I keep them in my bag in case she Facetimes me mid-cough. - Hair bobble. This is my ‘Emergency Kit’. In the event of a disaster (ie. moisture touching my hair), I can activate the emergency hair bobble to prevent my hair turning into a ball of frizz a la ‘Crystal Tips’.
- KIKO Double Touch 10 hour lipstick. (113). I absolutely love this lipstick. It stays on FOREVER! Plus, the gloss coat doesn’t make my lips go all ‘claggy’, as we say ‘Oop North.’
- Emergency carrier bag. This is my mum again! She always has an emergency carrier bag in her handbag…Well, it actually dangles off her handbag on a key ring. I’ve absorbed this trait and carry one around too.
- Purse. This is my favourite purse. Beth and Emily bought it for me as a birthday gift because they know how much I love green. It’s big enough to hold the majority of my important credit cards as well as money and coins. I’m not showing you the inside of my purse because it will upset my sister. She likes her bank notes and receipts neatly folded with the help of a set square and ruler. Mine have been carelessly scrunched into my purse in a disorderly fashion. Sorry Ruth!
- Pen and case. My lovely Cross ‘Edge’ gel ink pen is my favourite pen. It was a present from Mr. T. It’s such a lovely pen to write with and feels so comfortable in my hand. I bought a case for it too so it doesn’t get scratched when it’s in my bag.
- Hand sanitising gel. Oh my goodness! I’ve had a major epiphany during this ‘what’s in my bag’ exercise: I’m actually turning into my mum! I have hand sanitising gel in my bag!
- Aveeno Baby – Soothing relief Baby emollient cream (A freebie from BlogFest 2016 conference). I always have hand cream in my bag as my hands get terribly dry, especially around the knuckles. I’d have gnarled, sandpaper hands if I didn’t use cream. They actually become very sore and uncomfortable if I don’t moisturise them. I’m starting to suspect its a bit of a vicious circle, though. It seems to me, the more cream I use, the less my hands can cope without it. Am I just imagining it or is there any truth in it? I’ve tried so many creams over the years, Neutrogena, Nivea, Diprobase. So far, I’ve been very impressed with the Aveeno cream.
- Receipts. I have a HomeSense receipt in my bag. This isn’t surprising as I love HomeSense and visit most weeks on the way to my debt advice job.
- Star Wars Eraser. How did that get in my handbag? Kids! Us mums always have random kids bits and bobs in our handbags, don’t we? In fact, I’m surprised there aren’t crisp packets and sweet wrappers in there because any mum will testify to the fact we become walking, personal dustbins for our children! The funny thing is, I’ve started to accept things unconsciously, like it’s my job to look after everyone’s rubbish. Even Mr T has started passing me his rubbish!
P.S. I have a brand new bag!
It was my birthday last week and mum bought me a new handbag back from her holidays!!! Whoop! It is super-fancy. I’ve never owned such a beautiful, designer handbag. Thank you mum!
Over to you.
There you go! My bag contents are revealed. Hopefully, I haven’t bored you to tears with this post. I thought it might be a bit of fun before normal ‘festive’ service resumes.
What random things have you got in your bag? Is your bag organised or full of random rubbish and old boiled sweets? As always, I’d love to hear from you.
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